tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13727952.post2923234325305346948..comments2018-12-18T22:06:41.646-08:00Comments on Doux Reviews: The Handmaid's Tale: PostpartumBillie Douxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17141769005175631213noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13727952.post-61270659424396551632018-08-23T14:03:11.731-07:002018-08-23T14:03:11.731-07:00I assumed Fred made Nick hang the picture on purpo...I assumed Fred made Nick hang the picture on purpose, to make a point. Ancient Greek philosophers used to say you should allow your slaves to have children, because after that, if they behave badly, you can remind them that you have power of life and death over their children and threaten the children if they misbehave.Juliettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00203399623895589924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13727952.post-80412116922325285052018-07-09T18:50:34.918-07:002018-07-09T18:50:34.918-07:00You know, if this were the final season, I could s...You know, if this were the final season, I could see that as a possibility, but because this show has been renewed for a third season, I see this as a case of Dr. Frankenstein trying to regain control over his monster. fisher_and_diaz@yahoo.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17940784163917571073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13727952.post-55818383160150774442018-07-09T18:44:55.848-07:002018-07-09T18:44:55.848-07:00I have no idea what they&#39;re going to do. But I...I have no idea what they&#39;re going to do. But I&#39;m not seeing it as redemptive at all. It seems to me that if Serena decided to bring down Gilead, it would be for totally selfish reasons, because the world she thought she wanted turned out to be unbearable. <br /><br />Hey, only two days and we&#39;ll know for sure. Billie Douxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17141769005175631213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13727952.post-83804399189436254342018-07-09T18:02:05.305-07:002018-07-09T18:02:05.305-07:00I&#39;ve been thinking that there has been so much...I&#39;ve been thinking that there has been so much focus on Serena this season that maybe they really will go there -- <b>Serena will decide to bring down Gilead.</b> If she did, and if she decided to make an ally of June, that would be one bearable way June could stay with the Waterfords in season three.<br /><br />I don&#39;t see her working to dismantle Gilead -- the monster she played a hand in creating. A redemption arc would take more away from the show; deprive the June/Serena rivalry which the show is built on. <br /><br />I guess it goes to what I see going on right now in the real world. How many deplorables do you see renouncing their repugnant views and actions? How many telegenic alt-right females have shown genuine remorse for their actions, even when these actions adversely affected other women?<br /><br />I do think that the idea of who is and isn&#39;t worthy of redemption is a theme worthy of exploring, though. How do you come back from that? And can you really earn redemption for certain acts? I think rape is one of a handful of transgressions that are not forgivable. <br /><br />For all the indignity that Serena has suffered, and will continue to suffer in the future, I just don&#39;t buy that it&#39;s coming from a place of self reflection. Very rarely do fundamentalists change their stripes, and the ones who do tend to be on the low end of the totem pole. Serena was not only a high ranking wife, she was also one of the architects, and arguably the smarter, more cunning half of the Waterford couple. <br /><br />I see the wives banding together (or attempting to do so) next season in an effort to improve their lot. Season 2 demonstrated clearly the many ways that wives can also fall victim to Gilead (i.e. the wife sent to the colony, wive&#39;s being arbitrarily executed after the bombing of the Red Center, Serena&#39;s whipping, and Eden&#39;s execution). If the wives ever affect positive change, it will only benefit them and the children. <br /><br />Many Donald Trump supporters are beginning to see the reductive results of his immigration policy. Just wait. When stories of several of the children end up dying or being sexually abused become widespread, watch these cockroaches skulk back into the shadows and claim they were never along for the ride.<br /><br />You kind of saw that in episode 2x10 Holly, when Serena tried to shift all the blame onto her husband for raping June. She would just as quickly shift the blame onto the commanders for the execution of 15 year old Eden. <br /><br />Will Serena strive for some measure of personal benediction to quiet her own wounded conscience? It&#39;s possible. But her definition of redemption might end up being vastly different than how we define it in normal circumstances, similar to how someone from the deep south would pat himself on the back for not using the n-word. fisher_and_diaz@yahoo.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17940784163917571073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13727952.post-84834344487208220742018-07-09T06:36:40.547-07:002018-07-09T06:36:40.547-07:00I&#39;ve been thinking that there has been so much...I&#39;ve been thinking that there has been so much focus on Serena this season that maybe they really will go there -- Serena will decide to bring down Gilead. If she did, and if she decided to make an ally of June, that would be one bearable way June could stay with the Waterfords in season three.Billie Douxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17141769005175631213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13727952.post-36088639229107390982018-07-08T14:43:28.481-07:002018-07-08T14:43:28.481-07:00Billie,
My prediction for the season finale will...Billie, <br /><br />My prediction for the season finale will be that June will be faced with the chance to escape to Canada, but choose to return to Gilead for her daughter, Hannah.<br /><br />I&#39;m a huge fan of Six Feet Under, and I remember at the end of the second season, the main character, Nate went under the knife to treat a deadly brain condition. He goes into a medically induced coma, and has a hallucination where he&#39;s given the choice to embrace death, or to live through the experience regardless of whether he can make a full recovery.<br /><br />I don&#39;t think that June will escape from the Waterfords until next season, and even then, she&#39;ll have to remain on the fringes, because let&#39;s be honest, there is no show if June makes it up north. <br />fisher_and_diaz@yahoo.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17940784163917571073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13727952.post-59175217107185539382018-07-08T14:32:40.268-07:002018-07-08T14:32:40.268-07:00Julia -- You&#39;re welcome, and thank you for you...<br />Julia -- You&#39;re welcome, and thank you for your thoughtful comment.<b> I&#39;ve realized that I&#39;m not holding out any hope for a cool season finale as opposed to a seriously depressing one, but I would absolutely love it if they left the Waterford house in the rear view mirror. Literally.</b><br /><br />Billie, <br /><br />It&#39;s usually common practice for long form shows like this to end on a cliffhanger. <br /><br />That being said, I just don&#39;t see June making it out of Gilead as long as Hannah remains there. I correct that, I think that June leaving Gilead in general does the show a disservice. <br /><br />I know that this show is based upon the book, but I don&#39;t think for a show like this, and given the time we&#39;re living in today, that ending the show on an ambiguous note will make fans happy. Look at Dexter as an example. <br /><br />THT&#39;s epilogue in the book takes place centuries later, after the downfall of Gilead. <br /><br />Bruce Miller has insinuated that he wants this show to cover Gilead&#39;s lifespan. <br /><br />So that being said, I&#39;m assuming that liberties are going to be taken by having June play a role in Gilead&#39;s demise. And given that Elizabeth Moss is one of the co-producers, she&#39;s likely invested in the long term development of her character as she figures out how to survive in Gilead and escape with her daughter. <br /><br />The trick will be in the writers figuring out how to keep her in Gilead while keeping some buoyancy to it. Preferably, I&#39;d like to see her remain there without being subjected to rape. And as naive as that sounds, I think that from the standpoint of story progression/character advancement, that needs to happen. <br /><br />After that rape in The Last Ceremony, I don&#39;t think the fans will have much patience for her returning back to the ceremonies as her status quo. <br /><br />That being said, the writers are going to need to figure out how to keep her in close proximity to the Waterfords without subjecting her to rape, because I think without the much needed levity to her character that it will only diminish any attempt on their part to portray her finally reclaiming her agency. <br /><br />I think the best way would be posting June with a different commander who&#39;s perhaps ambivalent to the regime and ceremonial practices, similar to Emily&#39;s situation right now. <br /><br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /><br />fisher_and_diaz@yahoo.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17940784163917571073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13727952.post-79620618665107163852018-07-06T11:33:51.674-07:002018-07-06T11:33:51.674-07:00Billie/Julia: one word - ONTARIO!
Yes it would be...Billie/Julia: one word - ONTARIO!<br /><br />Yes it would be nice to leave that House Of Horrors with it&#39;s doors that click so loudly when they shut and lock. And those omnipresent radio crackles everywhere in public!<br /><br />No idea where the show runners will take this. I&#39;ve read Handmaid&#39;s and the Oryx/Crake trilogy, and watched &quot;Alias Grace&quot; (recommended). None of Atwood&#39;s works I&#39;ve read go so far as any kind of resolution/revolution on a broad social level, just setting up the situation that women are in and studying how they endure or escape. So with Atwood as a consulting producer it will be interesting to see where they take the show.<br /><br />I&#39;m assuming all our fantasies involve June, Holly, and Nick (and Rita! And Janine! And Emily!) escaping to Canada. If they did, that would set up an interesting situation with the inevitable meeting with Luke and Moira. That would also leave *&amp;^%ing Gilead intact. Definitely unfinished business there.<br /><br />Counter that, it was interesting that June and Nick&#39;s little fantasy about escaping with Holly involved the West Coast and Hawaii.<br />Does this mean that she is moving on from her past, or was that just a desperate reverie?<br /><br />Thanks BD for your writing as always. Now for the hard part: proving I&#39;m not a robot.milostanfieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12601982445850157037noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13727952.post-22557173304588608022018-07-06T07:37:06.962-07:002018-07-06T07:37:06.962-07:00Julia -- You&#39;re welcome, and thank you for you...Julia -- You&#39;re welcome, and thank you for your thoughtful comment. I&#39;ve realized that I&#39;m not holding out any hope for a cool season finale as opposed to a seriously depressing one, but I would absolutely love it if they left the Waterford house in the rear view mirror. Literally. Billie Douxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17141769005175631213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13727952.post-85860574610527894012018-07-06T07:29:32.173-07:002018-07-06T07:29:32.173-07:00I&#39;ve been meaning to leave a comment about thi...I&#39;ve been meaning to leave a comment about this show for several weeks now, but these last few episodes have left me so emotionally drained that I haven&#39;t been able to formulate my thoughts. <br /><br />Thos episode was mercifully not quite as devastating as the previous ones and I thought that jumping a few weeks ahead in time actually worked quite well. I wasn&#39;t that invested in Eden as a character so I didn&#39;t really grieve for her, but the whole death scene was a reminder of just how awful and cruel the Gilead regime is. And the weights at the bottom of the pool rocked me more than the rest of the scene altogether.<br /><br />Serena is such a mystery, going from the horrible cruelty of holding June down to be raped to showing real kindness this week. I wonder if she is as conflicted about her feelings and motivations as the viewers are? As for Fred, I despise him more every week. He seems both deluded enough to think that June actually has feelings for him and at the same time drawing sadistic pleasure from talking to June, seeing her hatred and knowing that she&#39;s not allowed to fight back. What a truly evil person he is!<br /><br />I don&#39;t really know what I&#39;m expecting from next week&#39;s finale, but I am SO ready for some kind of reset. I don&#39;t think I can handle another season of June being trapped in that house and subjected to the Waterfords&#39; cruelty. I think the Gilead system and its cruelty has been established well enough by now, and it&#39;s time for change, revolution or something new/different at least! Let&#39;s hope so. <br /><br />Thanks for the great reviews Billie, they really help when trying to survive the devastation each episode seems to bring!<br /><br />JuliaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com